The Sigismund Chapel<\/strong>, a mausoleum erected between 1515\u20131533 for the King of Poland Sigismund I the Jagiellon at Cracow Cathedral, is universally regarded as the perfect example of High Renaissance architecture north of the Alps. It was designed by Bartolomeo Berrecci who also oversaw its construction and execution of sculptural decoration by a team of Italian and local sculptors. Only a few years younger than Benedetto da Rovezzano (b. 1474), Berrecci presumably took part in the initial stage (1505\u20131506) of work on the mausoleum of St John Gualbert in Badia di Passignano, probably staying chiefly in the Carrara quarries. In all likelihood it was there that he met Michelangelo and became acquainted with the first project of the mausoleum of Julius II and with the master\u2019s sketches for its decoration (familiarity with the motifs and compositional schemes in the ornamental reliefs carved in the two stages of work on the tomb of Julius II is revealed in numerous parts of the Sigismund Chapel\u2019s decoration). Moreover, Berrecci must have known at least some of Sansovino\u2019s and Rovezzano\u2019s designs of reliefs for the Santa Casa in Loreto (1513\u20131515), while some of Berrecci\u2019s collaborators may have come from the workshops of these two sculptors. Apart from their own artistic backgrounds which should also be traced back to Rome, mainly to Michelangelo\u2019s workshop and the circle of Raphael, the maestro Bartolomeo himself must have already known the art of the Eternal City by 1515. Particularly noteworthy in the chapel\u2019s decoration are several instances of compositional motifs unquestionably borrowed from the Roman works of Raphael and the artists from his circle. Numerous compositional forms and motifs employed in this structure reveal an amazing concurrence with contemporary achievements of Italian, especially Roman, architecture and art, and the wealth of its relief interior decoration is related to the \u0153uvre<\/em> of such sculptors as Andrea Sansovino, Andrea Ferrucci and Benedetto da Rovezzano. Very few structures, even in contemporary Italy, showed such an accumulation of forms and thematic motifs of antique provenance as the Cracow mausoleum did. Archaeological fidelity in imitating antique motifs and a departure from Vitruvius\u2019s classical principles have their counterparts in Italian works created concurrently with the Sigismund Chapel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stanis\u0142aw Mossakowski<\/strong> (b. 1937 in Sambor, in the present-day Ukraine) graduated from the Jagiellonian University in Cracow in 1958; former director of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw (now the chairman of the Institute\u2019s Research Council); member of a number of Polish as well as international scientific societies (Ateneo Veneto<\/em> in Venice, Accademia Clementina<\/em> in Bologna, Acad\u00e9mie Europ\u00e9enne des Sciences, des Arts et des Lettres<\/em> in Paris, among others). He specializes in the history of architecture and decorative sculpture, the role of antique tradition in art, Polish-Italian art relations as well as the relationship between art history and the history of ideas. He is the author of a number of books, as well as more than 130 articles and treatises. He has received numerous awards (e.g. the Gottfried von Herder Prize of the University of Vienna in 2003).<\/p>\n\n\n\n INTRODUCTION <\/p>\n\n\n\n I<\/strong> \u2022 DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND DECORATION (1515\u20131527) II<\/strong> \u2022 THE ORDERS AND THE PORTAL III<\/strong> \u2022 GIULIANO DA SANGALLO AND THE ANTIQUE IV<\/strong> \u2022 ANDREA SANSOVINO AND BENEDETTO DA ROVEZZANO<\/p>\n\n\n\n V<\/strong> \u2022 MICHELANGELO AND RAPHAEL<\/p>\n\n\n\n VI<\/strong> \u2022 MARBLE FIGURAL SCULPTURES AND FINISHING WORK (1526\u20131533) VII<\/strong> \u2022 THE IDEOLOGICAL PROGRAMME VIII<\/strong> \u2022 THE ORIGIN OF THE IDEOLOGICAL PROGRAMME<\/p>\n\n\n\n IX<\/strong> \u2022 THE PLACE OF THE SIGISMUND CHAPEL IN THE HISTORY OF ART<\/p>\n\n\n\n APPENDICES<\/p>\n\n\n\n Index Orders can be placed via email irsa@irsa.com.pl.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Sigismund Chapel, a mausoleum erected between 1515\u20131533 for the King of Poland Sigismund I the Jagiellon at Cracow Cathedral, is universally regarded as the perfect example of High Renaissance architecture north of the Alps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2446,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.irsa.com.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KingSigismundChapelCracow.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Irsa","author_link":"https:\/\/www.irsa.com.pl\/index.php\/author\/irsa\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irsa.com.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irsa.com.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irsa.com.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irsa.com.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irsa.com.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2443"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.irsa.com.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3560,"href":"https:\/\/www.irsa.com.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443\/revisions\/3560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irsa.com.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irsa.com.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irsa.com.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irsa.com.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.irsa.com.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KingSigismundChapelCracow.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nCONTENTS<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Design (1515\u20131517)
Preparatory Work and Building (1517\u20131520)
Decoration of the Interior \u2013 up to the Drum (1521\u20131524)
The Drum and the Dome (1524\u20131527)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Orders
Capitals of Single Pilasters
Capitals Shared by Pairs of Pilasters
The Portal<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u201cFoliate Boy\u201d
Figural Motifs Borrowed from the Antique
The Ara Pacis Augustae <\/em>Motif
Architectural Elements Borrowed from the Antique
The Antique Triumphal Arch and Roman Tomb Sculpture
Pattern Books<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sculptors<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Design and Work up to the Base of the Drum
Candelabrum-Grotesque Decoration
The Drum and the Dome (1524\u20131527)
Figural Sculptures and Furnishings (1526\u20131533)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bibliography
List of Illustrations<\/p>\n\n\n\n